Man accused of stabbing family at Baker birthday party

BAKER – Police say a Baton Rouge man faces attempted murder charges after stabbing family members at a birthday party this weekend.

Henry Ray Thomas was charged with two counts each of attempted second-degree murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. He was booked into the East Baton Rouge Parish Prison Sunday.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, Baker Police detectives were called to a home on N. Magnolia Drive around 1 a.m. Sunday morning to investigate a stabbing.

At the scene, a man told detectives that he was cleaning up his wife’s birthday party when Thomas started “talking crazy” and threatened party attendees with a pocket knife.

The man told Baker Police that Thomas cut his father-in law’s head from his forehead to the back of his head. Documents say the attack caused a 17 cm cut that required 17-18 staples. The father in-law also had cuts to his arms.

The man told detectives that Thomas continued his “knife wielding rampage” and threatened to kill anyone near him. A second person was stabbed when they tried to stop Thomas from stabbing his nephew and nephew’s wife. Attendees were then able to wrestle Thomas to the ground and grab the knife.

Party goers said Thomas broke free and fled into the woods in an unknown direction. Police made contact with a man matching his description on Jefferson Street. He was then transported to the Baker Police Department.

Documents say witnesses positively identified Thomas as the attacker using a color photo lineup. Detectives also recovered the pocket knife.